Students living in HCM City’s University Village, adjacent to Binh Duong Province are being disturbed by prostitutes.
Prostitutes regularly operate around the University Village
Hot spot
The lives of thousands of students at the Vietnam National University – HCM City have been seriously affected by the rapid development of prostitution at the entrance to their halls of residence.
The area has for many years been regarded as a vice hot spot and sex workers can often be found mingling with students waiting a bus stops for potential clients.
T.N.L, a first year student at Ho Chi Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities, said, “One day when I was waiting for my friend, a girl invited me to go to a hotel with her. She promised only to charge me if I was happy with her services. I was scared and cycled back to my hall. She did not give up but continued to run after me, even offering me a discount.”
In order to better blend in, prostitutes are adopting more sober student style attire. They wait at bus stops and roads connecting the university to approach male students.
T, a second year student at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, said when waiting for a bus to the nearby Ho Chi Minh City University of Natural Sciences, a woman approached him and invited him to go with her to a guest house.
Salons offer more than blow-dries
A 300-metre section of National Highway No. 1A connecting Ho Chi Minh City University of Agriculture and Forestry with VNUHCM is lined with five or six hair salons which employ scantily clad women that offer under the counter prostitution services.
A woman working in one of the salons admitted, “We’re living off the students. Many students are regular clients. They are fed by their parents, but we’re forced to live off them.”
Stiff penalties needed
Lieutenant-Colonel Nguyen Van Hay, head of Dong Hoa Ward’s police in Binh Duong Province said, “There are two long-standing vice hot spots around the University Village. We’ve undertaken several cases, but the administrative punishments are not a strict enough deterrent.”
“We plan to coordinate with local police in the surrounding areas to deal with the situation to ensure a healthy environment for students,” Hay added.